


Wings of Despair

by EriiErii



Series: Kiransona Collection [7]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Buried Alive, Canon Divergence, Dark Digivolution, F/M, Fate Worse Than Death, Implied Reincarnation, Multi, Past Lives, Past Relationship(s), Possession, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriiErii/pseuds/EriiErii
Summary: There was no other choice. Chrom would've died at Surtr's hand if the digimon tamer, Summoner Sparrow, didn't act quickly enough. Unfortunately, in her desperations, she fell into a deep despair that activated the true power behind the Crest of Fate, and to Chrom's horror, his second chance of regaining the tactician he loved so dearly and lost in his world was now at a very serious risk of being consumed once more by another extension of Grima.As Sparrow's digimon dark digivolve into the monstrous, powerful MirageGrimamon, what chance does Surtr have to face against the digital doppelganger of the Wings of Despair, and what chance does Chrom have to save Sparrow from succumbing to the same fate Robin took their own life to avoid?
Relationships: Chrom/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Past Chrom / My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Series: Kiransona Collection [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652392
Kudos: 5





	Wings of Despair

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

“Sparrow… Get out of here…”

_ “Chrom!” _

_ “Please…! Leave me…!” _

The summoner’s instinct was to stand her ground. After coming this far, she was stubborn and steadfast, refusing to just abandon Chrom. Not after he worked so hard for the two of them to bond...

But she was shoved away from trees that were easily knocked over like dominos. What should’ve been  _ her _ crushed under the logs was Chrom instead. As if to add more insult to injury, he wasn’t even technically crushed so much as heavily pinned among the logs. By his sheer luck, he narrowly avoided being killed instantly, but he still couldn’t climb out no matter how much Sparrow tried to pull him through the gap he stuck halfway out of.

_ “Chrom, you-!” _

“There’s no other way…! Please…  _ Get out of here, Sparrow!” _

More trees collapsed nearby as Surtr made his presence known. Chrom was much more terrified for Sparrow’s sake than the fate that awaited him. Even if she knew and trusted Mastemon and Sakuyamon to be more than capable of holding their own, she sent them away to protect the Order of Heroes and contain Surtr’s earlier damage on his path to Snjárhof when it became to apparent to her, Chrom, and what was formerly Kyubimon a moment ago that Surtr had made far too much progress ahead of them on their way to Gunnthra than they thought, for someone who  _ should’ve _ been two towns-worth behind them. Even when Sparrow could see Mastemon and Sakuyamon, Mastemon hesitated to fire despite clearly taking aim, and neither her nor Sakuyamon were fast enough to reach them. Surtr was too close to Chrom to fire at him without hitting Chrom with him, and Muspell’s Flame that his body was imbued with was more than enough to immediately melt the snow near Sparrow and Chrom. 

_ “Sparrow  _ **_please-!”_ **

“What’s wrong, whelp? Have you finally realized that running is futile?”

Chrom’s heart raced. The rising heat of their surroundings couldn’t compare. Sparrow barely budged an inch away from him, and he was desperate to the point of tears, begging her to run. For every time he tried to pull his arm away from Sparrow’s grip, she just as desperately tried to retrieve it, even when both of them knew neither were strong enough, and her digimon were nowhere near close enough, to save the both of them.

**_“Sparrow run!”_ ** He begged and pleaded one more time. Yet again, she wouldn’t leave. She could hear even her own digimon seem to try to call out to her, but they were so far away that their words were easily drowned out by the crackling of the brewing flames nearby.

“Yes… Scream.  _ Louder. Scream until your voice cracks, prince! _ Scream louder, and tell your people the fate that awaits them next!”

_ “No matter what you do to me, I won’t let you harm Sparrow! Her monsters are more than capable of bringing your end!” _ Chrom only wished Sparrow could make good of such threats of not dying  _ here _ with him, but to his dismay, she still wouldn’t flee. In fact, she suddenly fell quiet and near-still right then.

“Say what you will, but even your summoner knows the fate that awaits you is inevitable. Even with your monsters, even I can tell  _ she _ is their core.” 

Every step he took had made the heat that much more unbearable. Even as her digimon tried to hurry, it was almost as if they were slowing somehow, despite the effort of the contrary. Trees were starting to light up in defiance of the snow that covered their branches.

“What will those monsters do when you cut them off at their core? Will they cry in despair when I snuff your life out? Or perhaps they’ll catch fire as I burn your flesh off?”

“Sparrow… please…” Why wouldn’t she run? Why wouldn’t she leave him? Sparrow hadn’t moved, but even when Surtr’s words hadn’t seemed to affect her, it was leaving Chrom helpless he couldn’t push her away further.

“It’s no use, Prince. Your summoner  _ does _ appear wise after all. She won’t flee, because she knows there’s no escaping her fate! The whole world will burn before me, and no matter who leaves,  _ you _ will perish to my flames!”

He loomed closer. Something was even more wrong with the digimon as they seemed to be in anguish likewise. Was it disbelief like Chrom, or something else altogether? It isn’t as if Chrom would know what digimon were supposed to do, none of them did!

“Still not running away? So you’ve made your decision clear you’ll stay and watch.” 

Sparrow still didn’t move. She stood her ground, to Chrom’s anguish, which just left him slowly losing his hope. Maybe his desperation was clouding his thoughts, but he saw so much in her that he saw in Robin before. 

It was just like when Robin stared Validar down. It was the same thing all over again right before they…

“What do you think your precious prince will do first? Will he continue to plea for your life as he burns? Or will he scream until his vocal cords fry up?” He rose Sinmara up in his hands, showing the flaming axe head in plain view of them. The heat grew suffocating. “Or will he prove too stubborn to scream to the very end? If so,  _ then maybe I should start burning his face off first!” _

**If only you had a bit more time…**

“Such a prideful hero… Then for you, I’ll give you a heroic death!  _ I’ll burn you until your flesh melts off your bones! I’ll send the scent of your burning flesh flaring all throughout these lands until those Nifl rats tremble in despair!” _

**Perhaps… You aren’t as hopeless as you seem…**

**All you need is just one little push...**

Chrom saw Sinmara held high and at the ready. Surtr would strike at the logs, not him. He wanted to burn him to death slowly and painfully. It would be the fate Surtr decreed, and Sparrow still didn’t move an inch.

**_“Now scream! SCREAM! SCREAM UNTIL ALL OF NIFL KNOWS I SHALL BURN THEM TO ASH NEXT!”_ **

Chrom tensed, but he looked between him and Sparrow, prepared to tell her one last time to leave.

**Isn’t this a shame?**

**To see how fragile such lives are? To see how fragile Chrom is?**

**Such a simple gesture, a single attack, and you see now how easily his life could be snuffed out before you…**

**You can change this fate.**

**He doesn’t need to die so pointlessly. Nobody does. Not to him.**

**You** **_know_ ** **what to do.**

Sinmara never connected with the log. 

In fact, Surtr stumbled backwards as an immense force not only blew him backwards, but blew the logs away as well. Chrom barely managed to move just above the log hugging him as the logs pinning him from behind were thrown back from the force. He lost his balance and collapsed on his knees as the logs were thrown just a short distance before rolling by and proceeding to catch fire as they rolled past Surtr’s general area.

As Chrom tried to pick himself up and looked to Sparrow, his heart sank at what he saw. He was vaguely aware, after a burst of force, that things were slowly rising off the ground. First were the logs, but next were nearby boulders, and then piles of snow.

Sparrow’s red eyes were glowing. Along her cheeks were runes, initially pretending to be either halves to the crest of fate, but soon revealing their true meaning as eyes of the Grimeal instead. The ruse was up, and at her back sprouted three pairs of black wings. 

He failed. 

It was the same vision he saw of what Robin could’ve been. And no matter Chrom’s efforts, or Robin’s sacrifice to spare his life, he still failed and let some version or another of Grima lay claim on Sparrow anyways. 

Even worse, not only was he already aware of the sheer number of chunks of Snjárhof’s forest and snow rising up and defying gravity, but also was quickly aware of how the sky above them darkened. 

Looking up, he realized Mastemon and Sakuyamon were just as consumed. Neither of them were around anymore, but what replaced them was a massive creature that immediately made him think Grima had somehow returned instantly.

Except… The longer he looked to the dragon, the more he noticed otherwise. It wasn’t quite undead and rotted like the actual Grima, even if it radiated an eery and imposing aura all the same. Its wings were shimmery compared to Grima’s dull, faded feathers, and it had a sleeker body in comparison to to the bloated stomach or exoskeleton-like ridges that lined the actual Grima’s lower body. It was also clear this dragon’s head was its true face and head, unlike how Grima’s skull rotted away so much as to serve as a mask.

But even for where the differences were, the effect was still the same. Sparrow and her digimon were consumed by an extension of Grima.

“You will not hurt him… You will not escape MirageGrimamon… The wings of despair…” Sparrow finally spoke up after remaining silent for so long, but by then, Chrom realized too late why she hardly spoke or tore her eyes off Surtr earlier. Her voice was eerily calm and soft. Her face was almost entirely void of emotion. With a loud rumbling, MirageGrimamon and Sparrow were clearly a united, connected force right then, but it was difficult to tell if either of them were in their right minds, or if someone else was pulling their strings now. 

While Chrom struggled to get up on his feet, and he stumbled onto his knees a few times in easily losing his balance, he noticed Surtr barely seemed phased by the sudden appearance of the dragon, or the sudden change in Sparrow’s demeanor and form. 

If anything, watching Chrom’s visibly growing distress was amusing to him, no matter what it took to bring it out.

“...Heh. So your summoner thinks she can fight after all. But have you already forgotten? The Flames of Muspell burns forever! As long as it remains,  _ there is nothing any of you can do to kill me!  _ **_You will only serve to help me bring the world to ash faster, but I shall continue to live, unscathed!”_ **

“...Good.”

Chrom couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. There was a faint smile that formed on Sparrow’s lips, and she stopped blinking altogether and stared at Surtr down with such a haunting, hollow look in her eyes.

“I don’t care to kill you. I prefer you live.”

“Oh?”

“Sparrow… Please, snap out of this... “

She did not. She took a step forward, and Chrom was distinctly aware that MirageGrimamon seemed to be reeling back her head. He could hear an echoed, feminine voice ‘softly’ chuckle, guessing it was the digimon’s voice. It was like the combination of Sparrow’s three digimon’s voices combined as one, and all of them held a tone to them not like any of their own. He found it in him to stay balanced on his feet.

“I won’t kill you… But you  _ will _ regret it.”

“Hmph… Bold words for one who’s about to die!” 

Whatever Sparrow had in mind, Chrom realized from MirageGrimamon’s pose that neither of them were safe anymore near her. 

Just as Surtr took up Sinmara and tried to swing his axe to strike Sparrow down, Chrom rushed to her and tackled her down, knocking the both of them onto the ground, and just in time for him to strike one of her wings in slicing half of it off, but fortunately missing her body. The portion of the wing Surtr sliced off had immediately disintegrated into colorful particles as it faded out of existence, yet it left Sparrow no worse for wear. 

Even if Chrom knocked himself down again, this time, he had a better sense of how to get back on his feet quicker. Against his better judgement, he scooped Sparrow up in his arms and ran. He didn’t even think to look back to Surtr without building distance from him first. 

The only thing to change his mind were loud, powerful crashes to the ground that caused the earth to tremble underneath them, and nearly made Chrom lose his footing and throw Sparrow ahead of him. He strengthened his hold to a point of gripping Sparrow’s arm hard enough to bruise her, but she still didn’t so much as wince to it. He continued running, even with the handicap. Even as he lost his footing and stumbled, he forced himself to get up and run.

He could hear another rumble strong enough to feel even from a distance. He could hear Surtr’s struggling between loud roars and cries of his own, only for the voice suddenly to grow softer and eventually drown out from more loud crashes against the earth. His curiosity got the better of him just enough to look behind him, even if he continued to run.

He saw enough to have an idea of what went on. MirageGrimamon lunged and speared into the ground where Surtr stood, drilling into the earth and Surtr with the tip of her muzzle. She continued to stab into the ground, and Surtr’s voice trailed off the further he was speared deeper into the earth every thrust. True to his word, Surtr couldn’t be killed by the dragon’s efforts. True to Sparrow’s word, however, that wasn’t the point of her relentless attacks, and his flames weren’t enough to so much as scratch MirageGrimamon’s muzzle either. She was repeatedly trying to bury him deeper down into the earth, and at first, despite the unfortunate toil it caused to the lands surrounding Snjárhof, Chrom was initially relieved how much the dragon limited the damage to Surtr’s immediate area specifically.

He was immediately corrected when MirageGrimamon took pause. She no longer rammed and dug her way into jabbing Surtr to the ground, especially as the deep crater began to glow bright with a roaring flame. 

Even from the distance Chrom continued to make, he could see the hole was glowing from the inside. Eventually, the fragments of unearthed rubble near the crater were lifting off the ground, but in a much smaller range compared to MirageGrimamon’s or Sparrow’s doing. The source of the light inside had exposed itself as a massive fireball that erupted from the crater and rose upward. The higher it rose, the wider its radius grew, and MirageGrimamon moved away and reeled her head back.

“There is no need to fight back…” Sparrow spoke up in Chrom’s arms, though he knew it wasn’t  _ him _ she was speaking to. It was as if she was a mouth piece to MirageGrimamon, in spite of him hearing the same words echoed in the exact same timing behind him. 

“Please…! Sparrow…! Snap out of this! You’re stronger than this!” He tried once more to reach out to her, even shaking her a little as he called to her. Unfortunately, Sparrow still held a distant look that didn’t focus on him.

“Let your hopes die… Let your spirit rest, Flame of Muspell… Let your despair take root and blanket you while you fall into the unending chasms of despair…” She and MirageGrimamon continued to speak as one, but it was clearly not to Chrom. Sparrow seemed almost completely clueless to her surroundings anymore.

He lost his footing and stumbled again, just in time for him to trip on a branch and fall over. He tried to at least hold and balance Sparrow, but he crashed onto the ground and still dropped her just ahead of him as he fell. Yet again, she didn’t react, even if he clearly saw her hand bleeding in cutting against a rock, and in spite of the impact. All she did was adjust herself to sit up, then rise to her feet, all with much better ease compared to Chrom scrambling to do the same. She simply stood in place, facing the direction of Surtr and MirageGrimamon. Her head tilted slightly to the side, and her eyes drooped, but she remained still unable to focus on anything else but her other half.

“Sparrow…!”

MirageGrimamon stared straight down to the rising, growing ball of flame. She opened her maw. Dark violet clouds brewed around her that overtook the previously clear skies, darkening the area even further. Violet thunderstorms rumbled around her, threatening to crash down on the earth’s surface, but still making their presence known across the now-darkened skies the digimon ruled over.

“Breath of Ruin”

“What…?!”

As Chrom turned to look between Sparrow and MirageGrimamon, he found out the meaning. Sparrow’s wings briefly fanned out, even the damaged wing Surtr tore apart. As if on cue, MirageGrimamon focused enough energy to shoot downward, straight through the ball of flame. Several smaller bolts crashed down the same radius, and as the larger, concentrated beam tore through the center of the ball and crashed straight down through the crater in full force, the bolts beside it shredded and snuffed out the rest of the ball’s shape that it couldn’t hold its form or focus any longer. 

Deep in the earth, Surtr realized in full how much Sparrow and her digimon turned his rite’s power against him. He was repeatedly shredded apart to the very fibers of his muscles and the fragments of his bones, only to be engulfed by his own flame and just as quickly restored to his full form. The dragon didn’t relent in her attack, knowing full and well the longer this attack could keep hold, the longer he could feel himself repeatedly shredded and rebuilt by fragments of his body. 

He couldn’t die. He would always be restored, alive, and fighting fit. But that didn’t mean he was above pain or suffering.

And it also didn’t mean the smoldering, deep crater the dragon created meant she wasn't done with him quite yet.

There were fragments of the shattered ground lifting and forming. Some of it were lifting up toward MirageGrimamon from the lands below. Most of it was a dark energy materializing in front of the dragon, creating various shapes and molding into various corrupted masses.

“Sparrow… Sparrow no…” 

“You are the Eternal Flame… But I am The End…” 

_ “Sparrow!” _

He tried again. He grabbed her shoulders and tried to shake her, repeatedly calling her name. No matter how much Chrom tried to get Sparrow to focus on him, and no matter how much he tried to call out her name, her focus was still firmly on Surtr. She briefly lifted her wings higher, and once again, the dragon immediately reacted in response.

**Make him suffer. Bury him to the deepest pits of the earth.**

**Do not forget what he almost took from you.** **_Do not forget how much he hurt you. How he tried to kill everyone you knew._ **

“Ruinous Punishment.”

Chrom tensed. He immediately guessed it was another attack, and was immediately proven right. Dark stalactites of what looked almost like obsidian were imbued with an unnatural aura MirageGrimamon powered them with. Whatever the mineral actually was, it was hard enough for MirageGrimamon to stab down into the earth with it, the largest of which rammed straight down the crater, and several others stabbing into the general area near it. Chrom held difficulties staying on his feet, all the while Sparrow stood firmly in place somehow. The repeated stabbing into the earth caused tremors that made Chrom cautiously glance around their surroundings to make sure nothing would topple over them any moment now, focusing back only just as MirageGrimamon practically constructed a small mountain where Surtr formerly was.

“Y-you uh… You did good…?” Chrom’s voice wavered. In truth, he wasn’t sure what to think of it. Surtr was thoroughly dealt with, Muspell Flame or not, but was the damage to Snjárhof’s forests worth it? He tried to focus more on calming Sparrow and think of how to handle MirageGrimamon likewise. Any moment now, the digimon should split back into her three monsters. Any moment, and Sparrow should calm down and return to normal. The weather would clear, everything would go back mostly to the way it was, and while the odd-colored mountain would be a headache to explain, everything should be fine.

Except Sparrow still didn’t speak to him. MirageGrimamon also remained, and worse, he noticed the dragon now seemed to be focusing up to the sky. If anything, the weather turned worse, as what once was only a dark storm in the sky immediately near the dragon was now starting to spread further out.

“Uh… Sparrow…?” Any minute now, they  _ should _ stop. Surtr was about as done for as his circumstance allowed! “You can stop now… Sparrow? You’re all stopping now, aren’t you?”

She wasn’t. Not just yet.

**If one could do so much, there will be more to replace him.**

**But not if** **_you_ ** **act first.**

**If they wish to burn everything, then burn them first. Burn them until nothing remains. Burn them until nothing stands between you and those you hold dear. Isn’t that what that man desperately wanted?**

“...To protect them…”

“Sparrow, no.” He tried to be gentle, but he saw the warning signs that this was far from over. His voice was starting to crack in his rising panic as he cupped Sparrow’s cheek and tried desperately to reach her. “Please don’t. No more of this! Surtr’s gone, there’s no need for any more this!”

“T-to protect… I… I need to burn them first…” For the first time since she and her digimon changed, her voice began to falter. So did the digimon. 

It was just like before. 

"Sparrow, no, listen to me, you've done enough!"

"U-until nothing remains…"

_ "No!" _

The dragon let out a low roar, but even with such an effort, it was still loud enough to feel. Chrom also noticed the dragon slowly opening its maw, aiming directly above toward the sky. The stormclouds flashed and rumbled with so much energy that the clouds brightened to identical violet hues as the electric energy was building up.

_ " _ **_Robin…!"_ **

"...Chrom…"

_ "Why?! Why did…?!  _ W-why…?!"

"A-are you hurt…?"

"Please…! Robin…! Don't leave me, not after coming this far!"

Right after taking an attack meant for Chrom, Robin collapsed. Before that, Chrom told him of an unusual dream he had, and in that moment, Robin realized they were reinacting it. Just as Validar hoped, Robin used their magic to materialize a blade of thunder. 

What he didn't take into account was for Robin to channel it in the wrong direction, and they plunged the sword through their own body instead of Chrom's in that brief moment they lost control.

"I-it was either you or me… Forget about me… L-live for me…"

_ "Robin please…! I-I could find help, I-" _

"T-there isn't enough time… a-and… I'll strike you if you don't let me go…"

"Please… don't leave me alone… y-you're all I have left…"

"You're all I have left…" he echoed his own words, if weakly so. He held Sparrow close in an embrace she limply fell into. She neither eased into it nor fought against it. He was keenly aware of where Falchion was sheathed, but tried one last time to find any chance he could to avoid using it. "Sparrow…"

"L-Light's…" Her voice faltered more. He could feel her tears dripping on his shoulder, but she was still midway of ordering her attack, unable to stop herself in time, but proving enough to Chrom that she wasn't a lost cause just yet. "Expir-"

So Chrom tried his best to help. Before she could finish, he shifted to kiss her, and then he held the kiss for as long as it took until he was sure she would stop her command. Maybe it was a stupid plan, and there was no guarantee a digimon even needed to say a command in full to simply attack anyways regardless, but he still tried to reach through her any way he could with whatever shred of an idea he could grasp.

She still didn't fight him. In fact, to his relief, the air around them and the ground beneath them gradually grew still. He could tell the dragon hadn't attacked after all, but he tried to focus primarily on Sparrow first. He had a gentle look to her. He was equally hopeful as he was desperate for her to end this. He cupped her cheek in forcing her to focus on him, and to his relief, this time she  _ did _ seem to be focusing on him after all.

"This isn't you… You  _ know _ this. You've done enough to handle the situation, so, please… don't let this consume you…"

"Chrom…" He realized their connection might be starting to splinter now. Sparrow spoke, but MirageGrimamon remained silent. He brushed her tears with his thumb and forced himself to smile, but the more she took notice of him again, the more she saw a heavy shadow of grief in his eyes she recalled seeing when the two of them first met.

**Oh Chrom… You poor, sweet soul…**

**You would know** **_all_ ** **about what it was like to lose everything.**

"Sparrow…? Sparrow please, try and focus on me…!" 

He could see her eyes were no longer glowing, but they also turned a far duller shade of red than even how they were originally. Worse, the markings on her cheek seemed to be of a much more vivid shade of red than before.

There were so many lives cut down far too soon. There were so many tragedies that felt as if they could've been prevented. So many deaths that felt so needless, so pointless…

And she saw it all right then. Even if it were brief flickers, the visions she saw were enough to paint her a vivid picture. Was it Surtr's doing? But then she began noticing how similar various decor of the landmarks or state of dress people had that were much closer to Chrom's style than anything from Askr, Nifl or Muspell. She swore she saw another woman who held a brand on her forehead that was nigh identical to the brand on Chrom's shoulder.

And then she saw Chrom. He held someone in his arms, but they were still and limp. Their state of dress was exactly like hers, except the color of their coat carried darker tones, and there were sigils similar to the crest of fate in contrast to her own sigils resembling Askr's royal crest.

**You don't have to let this happen again. Nobody you care for has to die so needlessly ever again. He will never have to suffer loss like this ever again.**

**All you need to do is burn them before they burn you.**

"Sparrow…"

"You… you never have to feel that kind of pain again…" 

His eyes widened. His mind immediately landed on an idea of what she meant. He shook his head and tried even harder to reach out to her, and trying desperately to ignore the way MirageGrimamon was slowly turning to directly face the two.

"They won't hurt you again if I-"

"No…! No, Sparrow, please don't." He continued to kiss her and keep her close. He was slightly aware of the dragon slowly moving closer. "If it is what I think it is, that isn't your battle to fight anymore. Please, I don't want you to throw your life away again. And I don't want you to keep attacking  _ here _ either."

He could feel Sparrow leaning against him more, and he shifted his weight to keep her balanced. 

"I just want you… And I want you to stop this now, before it kills you. I can tell you're at your limit, and you're hurt." 

"Chrom… I-I'm sorry…" He was slowly proven right, but to his relief, he also noticed how the markings on her face were fading, and feathers of her wings were falling out of her wings and fizzling away as colorful particles before they could even touch the ground. He shook his head and kissed her more while still trying to support her, even as her legs were buckling underneath her.

"This power isn't worth losing you, Sparrow… It may have helped deal with Surtr, but you need to give it up now. Please…"

She slumped against him. Even when he didn't mean to ruin her wings more, he initially moved his hand on her back, just under one of her wings, only for that entire wing to fall off at its joint. It eventually was a domino effect of the falling wings knocking the other wings off, until they flushed colorful particles against the snow, and the stumps left on Sparrow's back fizzled away on their own. He sighed heavier than he intended, relieved Sparrow listened to him after all.

"Thank you…" He kissed Sparrow on the cheek, and he initially tried to help straighten her back on her feet. Unfortunately, she was completely limp in his arms instead. Shifting her around, he noticed the marks on her face were completely gone, but she lost consciousness.

While he initially scrambled to check for a pulse and try to tend to her, a low rumbling and a shine of a growing bright light off to his side had reminded him that MirageGrimamon was still looming over them.

"H-hey!" He hastily lowered Sparrow to lay on her back, but he retrieved her digivice at her belt, holding it like a cop showing off his badge, and lacking Sparrow's confidence behind the manner he held it. "Angie! Devi! Rena! Are any of you in there?!"

At first, it didn't inspire much confidence when MirageGrimamon growled softly over speak to him, especially when the growling seemed exhausted in tone. However, he noticed the clouds weren’t storming any longer, and were slowly beginning to clear, filtering through more light between him and the dragon. What especially made him feel confident not to turn a sword on what used to be his three friends was MirageGrimamon no longer making any moves to attack him or the surrounding area. 

“It’s over now.” He tried to be just as gentle in his words in speaking to the dragon just as he was with Sparrow. He still was highly mindful of Falchion’s placement and his hand’s range from it, but with his other hand, he still held the digivice up in plain view of the dragon, figuring it would help, even if he had hardly the faintest idea of how. “Please, you don’t need to be this way anymore. Sparrow’s free from it, too, but I want to help the three of you just as much.”

“Chrom…” Finally, the dragon spoke. She was exhausted and lowered her head more, as if ready to roost onto the ground. Chrom was a little slower to consider maybe a dragon as large as MirageGrimamon might do more harm than good to roost.

“That’s it… That’s it, try and calm yourselves. That power isn’t worth losing any of you.” He wanted them to de-evolve, but the term itself was stuck just at the tip of his tongue. “Be like Sparrow, you don’t need to be this way anymore. None of you…”

“I… we… trust Sparrow to you now…”

“And I swear I’ll guard all of you. However long it takes for the four of you to recover, I’ll protect you all. But you need to free yourselves from Grima now.”

The dragon continued to lower herself toward Chrom. At first, he thought he could very well reach out and touch MirageGrimamon, but it was also slowly dawning on him just how big MirageGrimamon was, and how tiny he was by comparison.

He was especially made aware of this the more the dragon’s head moved closer, and with a bit more haste than he was prepared for or expecting.

“Uuh… What’re you three…?” He wasn’t sure whether or not this was a good thing, especially how MirageGrimamon was now glowing, and in several vibrant colors as she was rushing toward him. 

When it became apparent that MirageGrimamon wasn’t stopping, and more, the dragon was now shimmering with all manner of iridescent colors all along her body, he grew tense and panicked enough to scoop up and cling to Sparrow and juggle her with the digivice in one arm while gripping the hilt of Falchion in the other.

As the dragon crashed into the two on impact, it was before Chrom could lift even a quarter of the blade out of its hilt. But where he expected the dragon to charge into and drill through them, he was hit with a force much softer than he expected, and not unlike trying to stand against a small tide in the shores of a beach. The description ended up being fairly apt when the dragon seemingly shattered into trillions of colorful particles upon impact, bursting with the energy the dragon previously lined itself with and, much like Sparrow’s wings, fizzling out of existence. Chrom buckled down and tried to will himself to stand against the digital tides in refusing to be overtaken, much as his heart pounded of the significance of this, or what it meant for the fate of Sparrow’s digimon.

He lost his footing when he wound up slammed hard twice in the chest and once square in the face by unusually soft, round objects he was too distracted to see beforehand. As he fell over and brought Sparrow down with him, the objects rolled off of him until only one seemed to remain square on his chest.

When he looked up, he was greeted with the sight of creatures he was pretty sure were digimon based on their unusual appearance alone, but they were creatures he didn’t recognize well enough to name. The one on his chest looked like a very round, very fat fox whose head and body were just one round blob of fur, the only other limbs to it otherwise being a distinct fox tail and long ears that reminded him of Renamon.

As he scrambled in scooping up the unconscious fox pup and Sparrow, he got up just enough to realize that the two other blobs of fur looked nigh identical to one another as round balls of fur with cat ears and striped cat tails, but completely lacked any other limbs at all otherwise. The only difference was one seemed yellow with lilac stripes, and the other was black with a much darker shade of purple to its stripes. He could guess enough they were Gatomon and BlackTailmon respectively, but much like Renamon, seemed to take on even smaller forms than he initially expected.

He sighed in heavy relief that came out as an outright sob. Grima, be it the one he knew or this digital copy otherwise, didn’t claim any victims today. Especially not his beloved or their friends.

**_“What. Happened?”_ **

But he was also in such a daze that he didn’t realize he was laughing softly to himself. As he looked up and away just as the skies were fully cleared once more, he suddenly saw the Order of Heroes ran up to Chrom as he was sitting up, all with a hollow, tired look in his eyes. Without context, they weren’t sure what to make of the sight of the Exalt sitting up, laughing a hauntingly empty laugh however softly, all while their summoner was collapsed on his lap, surrounded by weird, passed out balls of fluff, all while the path leading up to Snjárhof’s fortress was clearly terraformed, burned, uprooted, and now had a prominent mountain made of a gem-like mineral Alfonse could only guess the origin of.

“I… I can explain…”

“Please do. To start: Is everyone alright?”

“I think so…”

But it was also painfully clear to Alfonse that Chrom might’ve been in some form of shock. His look seemed so distant, and even if he sat up fairly well, he didn’t seem as quick to stand. True to their suspicions, it took Chrom a moment longer than he would’ve liked for him to recall the point of why they were here in the first place when Fjorm seemed utterly guilt-ridden yet quiet in looking to them.

“...Did you find Gunnthra?”

“Y-yes…” Fjorm’s voice seemed highly shakened. As much as Sharena looked to her and tried to comfort her, something seemed to still leave Fjorm highly skittish. “My sister is safe, but… The earthquakes were quite the harrowing experience... A-and the fortress, it eventually collapsed… Other heroes are directing her back to Askr’s base as we speak...“

“Are you sure you’re ok? What’s Sparrow’s status?” As much as Chrom seemed alert enough, there remained the issue of what Anna and the others could guess were the digimon, and was especially concerned for Sparrow remaining unconscious. It left the party concerned enough to swarm Chrom and get a second opinion. Of them, Alfonse and Anna checked over Sparrow and Chrom’s wounds, while Fjorm and Sharena tried to gather up either nyaromons to check their health over. If not for the fact the two were clearly burnt out and unconscious, either of the girls were tempted to comment how soft and surprisingly squishy either kitty balls felt in their arms.

“Gods… The two of you are a mess.” Already, Alfonse was bringing out vials of vulnerary, water, and clean cloth to try to wash and treat the wounds he could see. It didn’t ease Alfonse any faster when the viximon beside Chrom was just as unconscious as either nyaromons, and Chrom and Sparrow didn’t so much as wince or hiss no matter how gnarly Chrom’s wounds especially were. He was already far too numb of his pain well before Alfonse administered some vulnerary on the wounds, and his heart was pounding so heavily that he just barely could hear everyone’s voices to pretend away otherwise he was a wreck inside. 

“What’s Surtr’s status? Based on the sightings, he would’ve came here by now…” Anna didn’t doubt that something happened with him, but what left her uncertain was the distinct lack of him despite evidence he or something worse were here a moment ago. Given the unusual dragon spotted earlier, she wondered if they had two active, powerful enemies on the run now.

When Chrom’s throat dried too much that he was at a loss of words of where to even begin, Alfonse hesitated while letting Anna shoulder more of the treatment while he glanced around. Going by the visual cues, he could paint a decent picture of what happened even without Chrom’s insight.

“...Is he under that mineral mountain?”

“Very deep under it…” Chrom spoke, but his voice cracked even worse than before.

“But… But he still yet lives…” As much as Fjorm was impressed of the sight, deep down, she also reminded herself of the properties behind Muspell’s Flame. “He cannot die, not so long as the Rite of Frost isn’t performed to counter his Rite of Flames…”

“If I may, Princess Fjorm, I… I suspect that is exactly the point.” 

“H-hmm…?”

It would go figure. With Nifl being a mostly peaceful kingdom, the royals wouldn’t so much as comprehend how to go about fates worse than death, much less inflict it on others. But Alfonse had enough visual cues to guess what the mountain was for.

“How deep does that tunnel-”

_ “Very deep… _ ” Chrom blurted his thoughts out without another thought, still mystified that just a moment ago, he was within range of watching a Grima-like dragon repeatedly drill into and open fire into that mountain’s core with such chillingly terrifying ease.

“I see… So while it would do well for us to stay vigilant of this area all the same, perhaps we can allow ourselves some leeway to consider Surtr to be, effectively, disarmed for the moment…”

“But…”

At first, Fjorm wanted to protest. Surtr isn’t technically dead. He could rise up once again and set fire to everything. Nothing could harm him or kill him permanently! It was a fear that overshadowed her thoughts, especially with how, had it not been for Kyubimon rushing ahead with Chrom and Sparrow had she had, there was a grim realization Surtr had already been ahead of them and could’ve easily killed Gunnthra before they got here.

But then her words fell short in her protest. She took in Alfonse’s words and Chrom’s implications when his eyes were so distant and glazed over as he described how deep that mountain of minerals bore through into the earth. She tried to visualize what Alfonse meant and what Surtr must be doing at the very bottom of the chasm underneath… the…

“Fjorm…? A-are you ok? You look  _ really _ pale all of a sudden!”

“I-I’m sorry, I need a moment…” 

She ran out of heart to protest it anymore. In fact, she suddenly found it hard to remain standing, and her stomach felt like it was suddenly tying itself in knots.

“Can you stand?” As Sharena was tending to Fjorm, and Anna was easing the three digimon to slip inside the digivice one by one back into the digital farm that awaited them inside, Alfonse had enough confirmation that Sparrow’s condition was stabilized, and she only needed rest, but he was concerned for Chrom’s state, even when he was the conscious one of the two. 

“Yes… I’m more concerned for Sparrow and the others, but I’ll manage…”

Despite his words, Alfonse wasn’t convinced. Initially, he hesitated to protest , and so he tried to give him a chance to prove his words. By then, Anna scooped Viximon up to transport into the farm, and she spotted heroes riding closer to their area on horseback to trust turning Sparrow over to them to retreat with.

Without anything to block him, Chrom stumbled onto his feet. At first, he took a few steps without issue, even if they were slow and unfocused.

And then he collapsed onto his knees and faceplanted on the ground, unprepared for the world suddenly spinning around him so fast, or how quickly his stress and nerves caught up to him. Everything grew dark, and while he vaguely heard shouts of surprise and alarm, he couldn’t focus on the exact words, and eventually, no longer heard them.

\---

By the time Chrom recovered, he found himself back in Askr, specifically the infirmary. He only had Anna’s and Feh’s word to go by that Angie, Devi and Rena were all safe no matter the form they took, especially when he still wasn’t sure how to handle a digivice to prove to himself such claims, unlike them or Sparrow. He felt exhausted and his entire body ached, but he felt undeserving of feeling such when he felt that, in the grand scheme of things, he did so little. 

At first, when he came to and realized where he was, his mind immediately landed on finding Sparrow. He freaked out more than one healer when he proved stubborn enough to repeatedly get up and out of bed to try to find her, collapsing out of his bed onto the ground when his strength failed him a few times, and being held down a few other times. Eventually, after some hesitance, they relented, especially when such hesitance wound up stirring Chrom up more and making the situation worse to hold him back.

But the hesitance didn’t come out of nowhere. Sparrow was still alive, but she remained unconscious even then. They initially worried that her condition being worse than Chrom’s would only threaten Chrom’s health with the stress, and it wasn’t until Chrom proved difficult to treat and handle without Sparrow with him that reuniting them became the better option by comparison. 

Nobody really understood what a digimon does to their tamer. Chrom wasn’t even sure if the manner she connected with MirageGrimamon as she had was a common thing or not among tamers. Without any point of reference otherwise, he feared the worse that the incident between her and MirageGrimamon was a unique case, which only added more fuel to his guilt and shame of allowing Grima to influence them at best and nearly kill them at worse in their exhaustions. Normally, he would’ve asked the digimon themselves, but he similarly didn’t understand how long it would be before Angie, Devi or Rena would be strong enough to leave their domain again, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of finding a way to communicate with them while there like Sparrow could.

For over a week, he was completely in the dark of what to expect of it all. 

For the first two days, Sparrow remained completely unconscious no matter Chrom’s efforts or her treatment. He would constantly be on edge, always wanting to try to shake her awake, only to hesitate in reminding himself how much that resting could heal her. By the third day, she finally woke up again, but she was still so heavily weakened that she was barely conscious, and she would simply continue to sleep for much of the day anyways beyond the brief pockets she forced herself to wake up. He tried so hard that day to keep his nerves in check and not scoop her up and crush her in a hug as his impulses so desperately wanted, but he was also disappointed when Sparrow still was weakened and sickly enough that she could hardly recall what Chrom tried to ask or tell her those days the next time she woke up from it.

“Hey… Sparrow. It’s good to see you awake again. I brought you something to eat.”

“Chrom… You need to eat, too…”

“And I will. But I can simply get more. Now please, eat.”

The days after were a little better, but not by much. He could get her to remember a bit more of what they were talking about, but it didn’t help how much they initially began at a point Sparrow was so delirious that she barely even remembered what a digimon was at first, let alone who or what MirageGrimamon was. At first, Chrom was unsettled with how quickly he was reminded of how Robin suffered amnesia when they also first met, or how Robin specifically suffered such from a near-death experience likewise Chrom rescued him from. Sparrow hadn’t been well enough at the time to notice the changes in Chrom’s demeanor in his grief-riddled nostalgia, from how gentler and careful he was acting, or how tender, if grim, the look in his eyes were, or how his blue tones dulled from their normal, previous radiance before all this. The only silver lining was, even though it still drove up the worries and concerns of the healers time and again for how much Chrom would wander or take initiative as he had - in spite of his own condition - he was making better progress in his own healing when he kept his mind busy trying to help Sparrow likewise.

But as the week progressed, it became apparent that Chrom, in his efforts to pick up the pieces of what happened that day MirageGrimamon buried and crushed Surtr alive, the more it eventually began having the opposite effect from what Chrom hoped.

“Hmhm~ I caught you just in time, I see. Good morning.”

“...Hey…”

“Hm? ...Is something wrong?”

“...No. It’s fine.”

“Sparrow… Please, you know you can tell me.”

“Yeah… I get it… But I promise it’s nothing.”

She remembered. She remembered  _ everything _ , from the visions she saw, to the pained, desperate look in Chrom’s eyes when he tried and failed to reach her. It just took her time to be well enough to gather her thoughts, and when she had, it was painfully obvious. 

Once it all became clear to her again, she became closed off and withdrawn. No matter Chrom’s efforts, she was courteous and grateful to him, but only to the extent she needed to be, and she was distant once more of opening up to him or elaborating on what ran through her thoughts, no matter how obviously they did so. Initially, Chrom was grateful to see Sparrow awake and alert more often throughout the day. So much so that he tried to be patient of her suddenly turning so frosty, saddened and quiet, no matter how much it hurt. He tried to give her patience and space, especially at the gentle advice of some of the healers like Lucius of how to handle this side to her.

But he noticed the little things in watching her. She wasn’t exclusively withdrawn to just Chrom, and he took a slight comfort from it, as much as it still distressed him all the same. The Order of Heroes didn’t pressure her for her duties as their summoner for obvious reasons, and he knew and expected as much, but he noticed she would hardly so much as look at her digivice, much less feel much of anything about touching it or using it. No doubt the three of them were safe whether or not Sparrow tended to them, and he remembered being reassured of things like how they had their own renewable source of food and a peaceful place to rest or train inside the digital farm in the device, but he also recalled her usually being much more engaged in checking in on them and tending to them compared to how she seemed to make the effort to avoid the device entirely now.

“Good morning, Sparrow…”

By the end of the week, he was nearing his limits. He couldn’t even make the effort to pretend like nothing was wrong between them, especially when Sparrow was getting worse. Right then, she remained silent, and while she initially wanted to turn to look his way, he could pinpoint the exact moment in her movement where she recognized it was him and thought against it after all.

He couldn’t do this anymore.

He moved to set the food gently on a counter by her bedside. Sparrow seemed to lower her gaze, but didn’t turn any closer to face his way, and by this point, she expected Chrom to give up, turn heel, and let her be until whenever he could find a new excuse to check on her. 

But then she became much more aware of the bed starting to sink a little in one side, She felt movement on the side beside her that eventually made her turn and look, realizing it was Chrom settling beside her. He grabbed her and pulled her close, but it was gentle, and gave her enough forewarning to tear away if she wanted. She didn’t.

“...Can we talk?”

Sparrow hesitated. Initially, Chrom sighed and was about to pull away, but what stopped him was her hastily reaching for his hand just before he could move to shift his weight away.

“...You don’t need to keep hanging out with me if you’d rather not. I don’t blame you if you have to keep forcing yourself.”

“Wha… Sparrow, why would you think such a thing?” 

When she didn’t pull him away, and with what she was saying, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He shifted more on the bed, not to leave, but to pull Sparrow closer into him until he had her pressed against his chest, just in the right position to hold her in his arms. She still didn’t fight him, but she looked uncomfortable the one time she glanced up his way, then seemed to look away again. It was almost like she was too ashamed of herself to look to him, let alone have him do this for her.

But if there was one thing Chrom was known best for, it was how stubborn he was. He kissed her on the cheek in at least taking her discomforts to heart not to aim for the lips instead, but he otherwise tried to be more encouraging between the kiss, and him nuzzling her cheek to cheek. She still remained not just stiff, but almost deflated of it.

“After what happened back there, why are you still like this?”

“If it weren’t for what happened back there, I wouldn’t be here.”

“You know that’s not just what I mean… There could’ve been better ways to handle what happened back there. Ways that wouldn’t distress you and put everyone else at risk like that.” 

“Ah. So  _ that’s _ what’s on your mind.”

“...I hate how casually you’re treating this.”

“I’m not.”

She didn’t believe him, but she also felt him nuzzle up to her some more. She also couldn’t escape anymore as he wrapped his arms a little tighter and gave a gentler squeeze. It was a hug long overdue.

“I’m not… I swear it, I’m not treating this lightly.”

_ “I could’ve killed so much more people back then. _ And my partners… Surely, they resent me for what I put them through, too.”

“Did you actually ask them? You’ve been avoiding that thing like Lissa avoided bear meat…” It made him nostalgic of it, much as the sentiment stung. Then again, maybe he could bring himself to say such things a little more lightly after since coming to this world and seeing his friends and family again, even if those of a different, happier time. Even with his own Lissa gone, at least he could catch glimpses of a Lissa from a time she could hopefully live a better life than how his own sister’s was cut short. As much as he sighed of the sentiment, Sparrow was taken aback of just how casually he would say such a thing, but hesitated, wondering if he was trying to say something shocking to purposely distract her.

“...No.” And to be fair, it was a strategy that technically worked.

“Sparrow… Look at me.”

She hesitated. He had to gently guide her, but fortunately, part of the way through, she did give in and willingly look up his way. She saw the same gentle, tender smile that was full of love. But it pained her seeing it this time, knowing she did things that day that proved far too strongly how undeserving she was of such looks.

“The fact you stopped is more than enough for me. Even when you-... Even while you were in that state, you still heard me call out to you. You and your digimon proved my belief right that the four of you were strong enough to overcome Grima, even as he held you all.”

He just wished that Robin held that same belief to see their own inner strength. But then Chrom knew he was selfish to see it under such a biased lens. He knew as much as he hated it, that Robin took their own life when they were supposed to take Chrom’s  _ was _ a show of Robin’s own inner strength.

But they came back to him, even if now it was as Sparrow. Now he knew he had to be even more careful and help strengthen her so he wouldn’t fail her like he failed Robin. Sparrow may have hesitated, but he could see how even then, Chrom was reaching out to her, even when her own confidence was failing her still. 

“And I’m sorry as well. I was the one to drive you to that point in the first place. If I hadn’t gotten myself trapped as I had, I could’ve done so much more to protect you all.”

At first, Sparrow wanted to protest. However, she barely got a word out and drowned it out with a heavy sigh instead. She realized quickly enough that now she was being hypocritical, and she fell into the same trap Chrom had in trying to justify and ease her over what happened.

And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that as grand a scale as the damage was, and as chaotic as it came about, Surtr was, effectively, eliminated, and without costing Gunnthra her life in the process. Could the mission  _ really _ be considered a failure?

He reached over to retrieve the digivice and brought it up in plain view of the two. Even with Chrom loosening his hold on her to try to grab it, Sparrow  _ still _ hesitated to take it. 

“I’m sure they’re more worried than upset for you, Sparrow. Just as I was.”

“What I did to them wasn’t right. What happened with Surtr wasn’t right either.”

“But you prevented it from becoming so much worse.” He still gently urged her to take back her digivice. “I-I would… I could’ve lost you again. I still never forgave myself for how I failed you before, but if I failed you again, I…. I-I don’t…”

She tensed even more. Despite Chrom’s efforts, she could feel himself slightly shivering. He seemed to try his best to hide it, but it was still clear how much it was affecting him in spite of his efforts. 

Sparrow felt her own guilt at the memories of those visions. It was one thing to hear it or look into it like some article or some game, but to see it as a memory, and for Chrom to experience it, Sparrow felt even worse for the times she wound up adding to his grief in being too careless. 

When he fell silent in his desperate attempt to keep up the act of being calmer than he was, Sparrow gave up. She looked up to him and felt even more guilt to see Chrom barely managing to hold himself together, even as he was trembling, and even as his eyes dulled so much. She reached up to his cheek and caught his attention, and as she looked down, she reached up to kiss him under the chin. 

As he was caught off guard, she took advantage of it in shifting out of his embrace just enough to sit up straighter and fully face him. He was even less prepared for her to reach over and hug him, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder as she kept him close to finally return the kisses after being so distant for a while.

“...I’m sorry.”

“I-I… I’m sorry too, Sparrow…” 

He could hold her like this for hours. For all either of them knew, maybe he did. They eventually pulled away, and once again, Chrom presented the digivice to Sparrow. To his relief, she finally took it back, and she settled in his arms again.

She dreaded it. The moment she checked into the farm, she still had some hesitance of what her partners would say or think, not just over the dark digivolution, but now of her ignoring them after. This time, Chrom was much more mindful to watch her as she used her digivice to check over them, even if he knew he had to ask eventually for a more detailed guide on how to use it. He watched the way she looked through the oldest messages and worked her way up to the latest, starting with the digimon expressing their shared confusion and surprise of how they got there, the hope for Sparrow and Chrom being safe and well along the Order of Heroes, then hints of concern as they caught on that Sparrow didn’t reply to them. As she read through more messages, the tone to them grew much more urgent and worried, 

She was suddenly pinged with a new set of messages.

[I SEE YOU!]

[Where the hell have you been?!]

[Sparrow! Chrom! Are you two ok?! What happened?!]

It also became apparent that what used to be a farm that was quiet and empty as the three retreated to one of the facilities that now there were three disgruntled sprites representing Angie, Devi and Rena, all alternating between looks of concern or looks of anger to the best the digivice could convey short of the three emerging and facing her directly. 

“I told you.” Chrom could get enough of the gist of their feelings to smile and give Sparrow a gentle peck to the cheek. Sparrow merely groaned in response and texted all of them at once with a single message.

[We’re better now. Sorry for all the trouble.]

To Chrom’s joy, the digimon each doubled down on their feelings even more. As if a sudden torrent of spam opened the floodgates, Sparrow’s inbox was repeatedly and quickly flooded with all manner of messages, most of worry and concern, and some scolding her for why she didn’t respond sooner and worry them more. Not a single one of them seemed upset for what led to MirageGrimamon’s creation, and Chrom was all too happy to try to ease her away form it while helping tamer and digimon alike reconcile.


End file.
